


not a flower, not a solar-powered calculator

by americangothic



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Robotics, Temperature, of sorts, s11 ice chapter fucked up if true, the julien and kai scenes are very brief but u know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25834957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americangothic/pseuds/americangothic
Summary: When he used his powers, the chill spiralled through him in a way that was nearly indescribable to anyone that wasn't an elemental master. He didn't have to describe it, though, because he knew Kai felt the same sentiment about his fire. Jay'd said as much about his lightning, the way it crackled under his skin. Cole talked about how using his powers centered, grounded him. The ice lowered his core temperature and activated some of his artificial pain sensors, but it balanced out with the way his processor would overheat when it kicked into high gear.It was a good feeling, Zane decided.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	not a flower, not a solar-powered calculator

**Author's Note:**

> obligatory yearly ninjago fic. i don't know anything about how technology works so sue me if this is incorrect, title is from dr. sunshine is dead by will wood and the tapeworms

Most of the time, Zane was warm. His father took no shortcuts in creating him to be as realistic as possible. The lifelike synthetic skin he wore was heated by his processors functioning underneath, powering the rest of his body while providing a steady body temperature that hovered right around where a human's would.

When he used his powers, the chill spiralled through him in a way that was indescribable. He didn't have to describe it, though, because he knew Kai felt the same sentiment about his fire. Jay'd said as much about his lightning, the way it crackled under his skin. Cole talked about how using his powers centered, _grounded_ him. The ice lowered his core temperature and activated some of his artificial pain sensors, but it balanced out with the way his processor would overheat when it kicked into high gear. It was a good feeling, Zane decided.

His true potential was… overwhelming. It wouldn't be replicated simply because it probably couldn't, and Zane was reluctantly glad of that. The simultaneous heat energy bursting through his circuits and cold that seared through his body were incredible. Part of him wondered what it would be like to feel only one of those sensations at a time. Would it kill him? He didn't know. Probably not, he thought.

Then, later, he died. 

Zane could feel the golden power emanating from the Overlord's claws as he grips them, could feel it rippling through his metal skin like it was nothing and further into the very depth of his being. 

It was the reversal of using his powers. Hot, searing pain from his hands and rushing up his arms, making every single circuit and bolt and sensor tremble. Like he'd never feel cold again. He ripped his hands from where they'd been wrapped around the claws and pointed them at the Overlord's chest, summoning every single memory of the ice he had. The chill that had been with him his whole life, from the forest to the ninja to here, the city, caught in the middle of a spider's web. 

Based on the glimmer of frost he could feel at the tips of his fingers in those last seconds, he assumed they won. That was enough for him. Zane let go.

And Zane woke up.

He'd rebuilt himself and everything was vague and blurry but it was still _him_ (he hoped). His brain hurt when he tried to think about most things. Putting memories together was hard. Dealing with everything he saw before him was hard. Listening to Pixal was easy, but trying to make sense of most things she said was even harder.

He registered, somewhere in the labyrinth that is his mind, that he wasn't as warm as he used to be.

_["Your skin traps warmth and keeps it in," his father says as Zane slowly peels a carrot, making sure to maintain the same amount of pressure for all of the strip. He reaches the end of the carrot, drops the strip, rotates it to the left, and starts from the top again. "Of course, you will vent any excess heat if it's not needed, but most humans hover at around ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit, so you do as well, my son."_

_Zane finishes his strip, drops it in the compost pile, and looks up. "What is Fahrenheit?" he asks. His father smiles._

_"I haven't taught you about temperatures yet?" At Zane's headshake, his father nods and holds up three fingers. Zane pauses, trying to figure out if he should hold up his fingers as well, but his father motions to the carrot and the other ingredients for the stew they're making. "There's three main systems we use for measuring temperatures. The first one I mentioned earlier, Fahrenheit, is…"]_

Huh. Zane wasn't the same as he once was.

Later, he came to accept this. Welcome it, even. He was different now, sure, but people change all the time. Nindroids could change as well.

His powers still worked the same, the chill dripping through his circuits. His body temperature fluctuated a lot more, though- at one point Kai touched his shoulder while they were on a mission, and yelped when the metal was about thirty degrees cooler than he expected. Zane had turned around, surprised, and apologized. It was alright. They all managed to adjust.

Much later, he was cold.

He wasn't warm. There wasn't any warmth here. It was gone, sapped from the world where he'd been subtle and eradicated where he hadn't. He'd never feel warm (and to say "again" would necessitate him having felt warmth in the first place). 

He couldn't feel the cold, not really, not as deep as it went. His default state, he'd been told, was cold. Sometimes he got colder. Sometimes he wasn't as cold. He was always cold. His advisor told him these things. 

Sometimes, people that weren't cold appeared.

He frowned at the man dressed in green. The frost crackled as he moved his face. 

Things never break through the cold. There is cold and colder and less cold. Vaguely he realized there was less cold, so much so that there was barely any left. 

Zane, although he didn't know it yet, began to warm up.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is @robbierottenisagayicon. shoutout to livy for getting me back into ninjago


End file.
